Blue Bell, Fulwell (Sunderland) - Tuesday Nights 8.30pm
Over the past few weeks, I have been attending the Blue Bell Quiz in Fulwell (Just outside of Sunderland city centre). It's been running for some time and shamefully in the 2 years I lived in Sunderland I did not get round to attending. But having a few gaps in my diary I made the effort to go along and certainly didnt regret it.
The quiz is ran by local quizmaster, and league player, Tony Gillan who used to run the Quiz I attended each Thursday in Sunderland and that I labelled on here as the best quiz in town. So I was very pleased when I turned up and realised Tony was doing it.....
The quiz is split into 3 rounds. 12 pictures, 10 current affairs and 20 testing General Knowledge questions with a jackpot at the end. Marking is ongoing and the standard of questions is very high. No filler, no chestnuts and a well written set all round that will suit all players. The quizzes I have played so far have been nice and varied and always questions to ponder long and hard over.
It is busy too with 16 - 20 teams most weeks and the whole night goes without hitch (nice pub too!). Most notably there are no signs of cheating! The Jackpot round is capped at £100. Always a question to have a guess at and the jackpot cannot be split so if more than one players gets it, it rolls over.
All in all, the quiz at the Bluebell in Fulwell is one of my favourite Quiz Nights at present. My only slight criticism would be that's its a little on the short size....30 questions in all and 12 pictures. In addition, with the picture round accounting for over 25% of the quiz it means that a bad picture round can be fatal to your chances as the winning score (out of 42) tends to be around the 36-38 mark.
The Blue Bell also host a Music Quiz on a Monday and a "fun quiz" on a Wednesday but having been to neither I can't really comment but its worth knowing. Don't see many music quizzes around this area so Ill certainly be looking to give that a try!
